The Health Not Prisons Dispatch is a newly launched bulletin highlighting recent developments relevant to criminalization and policing of people living with HIV in the United States, along with upcoming events, relevant resources, and opportunities to get involved.

HNP prioritizes authentic engagement, activation, training, and leadership rooted in our principles and deep investment in our communities. To that end, we want to hear from you! For more information about the coalition, ways to get involved, or efforts you would like to see the Collective support, email Tyler Barbarin at [email protected].

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing racial and gender health disparities in the United States. The initial response to the panic and uncertainty of the worst public health crisis of the last 20 years was one of increased carcerality and criminalization. HNP positioned itself to address this knee-jerk reaction to COVID.

Throughout 2020, HNP participated in panels, workshops, and even co-authored legislation to encourage officials of varying levels to prioritize fairness, justice, and equity when developing responses to COVID-19.

One briefing, organized hosted by Representative Ayanna Pressley and the LGBT Caucus, highlighted the ways in which criminalization undermines public health outcomes and intensifies alienation from and inaccessibility of positive health outcomes for traditionally minoritized communities—especially women, BIPOC, LGBQ people, and those of trans experience.

The Biden-Harris administration offers a new opportunity to advance the prioritization of these values in the COVID-19 response. HNP was excited by the creation of the Biden-Harris COVID-19 task force and authored a letter encouraging the administration to consider adding an official to the task force who can apply a human rights framework to the pandemic response.

We look forward to continued opportunities to work with the administration over the coming years.

In reaction to the failures of the federal response to address the COVID-19 crisis, reminiscent of the national reaction to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, HNP positioned itself to address, maintain, and resolve the mounting crisis. The Collective brought a racial and gender justice lens to the pandemic response. Through the centering of meaningful engagement of people living with HIV, the Collective led the charge along with public health officials and state legislators to address the most challenging public health issue of the last 20 years.

As policy issues arise due to COVID-19—like those around molecular surveillance—the Health Not Prisons Collective is positioned and has acted to prevent the further exploitation and oppression of the most marginalized.

The Counter Narrative Project engaged in a series of roundtable discussions that engaged the implications of criminalization from numerous angles. Some of the topics included Southern-specific experiences with COVID-19 and HIV criminalization, like the discussion linked here. Another discussion analyzed the intersections of police, protest, and public health, linked here. These discussions were examples of how the Collective moved along timely conversations on a large scale and centered the experiences and expertise of people living with HIV.

In Virginia, Positive Women’s Network-USA (PWN) and the Sero Project, in partnership with ECHO-VA and Equality Virginia, introduced an HIV decriminalization bill in Virginia. The bill passed the senate judiciary committee on January 27, 2021. Learn more about SB 1138 here.

As legislative advocates, PWN and the Sero Project sit on coalitions in five states working on modernizing or repealing their HIV criminalization laws: Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, and Virginia. Through participation in these coalitions, the national partners of HNP support people living with HIV state and local advocacy efforts and learn about the state landscape.

The Counter Narrative Project held a Facebook live featuring Robert Suttle, a member of the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus’ steering committee, describing his personal testimony for HIV decriminalization. The partners have helped to place articles in numerous publications, secure speaking engagements for members, and change the way that HIV decriminalization is happening nationally.

U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus Vice-Chair Andy Spieldenner published an article in POZ entitled Race Matters: Still in 2021. In this article, Spieldenner takes a deeper look at how HIV and LGBTQ communities are still struggling to understand how race impacts lived experiences and interactions with institutions and movements. The article also provides suggestions on how our movements can and should better integrate a commitment to racial justice.

HNP aims to center the stories and perspectives of people living with HIV, to apply a racial justice and gender justice across movement spaces, and to create opportunities for meaningful engagement of people living with HIV in story creation and reporting.

• Sero Project has launched the HIV Justice Institute, a year-long program designed to nurture leadership skills and self-empowerment for twelve participants annually. If you have any questions about the Sero Project Justice Institute, please contact [email protected].

• Counter Narrative Project presented HIV Criminalization Is A Racial Justice Issue at the National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice. The session provided participants with a history of HIV criminal laws in the United States and focused heavily on unpacking how these laws converge with anti-Black racism. Panelists included Eric Paulk of Georgia Equality, Malcolm Reid of THRIVE SS, Brad Sears of The Williams Institute, Amir Sadeghi of the Center for HIV Law and Policy, and Johnnie Kornegay of the Counter Narrative Project.

• TLC is hiring for a Legal Intern, Legal Services Project Intern, Migrant Justice Fellow, National Organizer, and National Organizing Fellow! Go here to learn more about the positions.

• District attorney George Gascón writes a special directive that addresses issues of misdemeanor case management to prevent Los Angeles County courts from becoming revolving doors for those in need of treatment and services. Read the statement here.

• Read the feature of HIV decriminalization advocate Devin Hursey in HIV Plus Magazine here.

• Representative Ayanna Pressley introduced a House resolution recognizing that the United States has a moral obligation to meet its foundational promise of guaranteed justice for all. This resolution discusses the expense of the over-reliance on the criminal justice system to solve social issues that can be better remedied through investment in social services. Read it here.

• A recent journal article, published in Social Science & Medicine, explores the disparities in HIV-related risk and socio-economic outcomes among trans women in the sex trade and the effects of a targeted, anti-sex-trafficking policy. Read the article here.

• The Super Bowl is a time in which sex workers experience increased surveillance and criminalization. The Super Bowl Sex Worker Bail Out aims to help prevent long term criminalization and harm during that weekend. Find out more here.